Caste, Entrepreneurship and the Illusions of Tradition: Branding the Potters of Kolkata - Paperback

by Geir Heierstad (Author)

This ethnographic study is an empirical exploration of caste through the story of Indian potters who have transformed caste into a marketable brand in the business of selling sculptures. To these contemporary potters, caste is in their blood, caste is about being a creative and independent artist, and caste is about business, as they engage in a competitive market to sell their artworks.

Author Biography

Geir Heierstad is research director of international studies at the Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research, and former associate professor in South Asia studies at the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Norway. Heierstad is co-author of Indiske utfordringer (Indian Challenges, 2014), and coeditor of The Politics of Caste in West Bengal (2016), India's Democracies: Diversity, Co-optation, Resistance (2016) and Demokrati på indisk (Democracy Indian Style, 2010).